Cyrus Mistry formally takes charge of office today

Mumbai:Cyrus Mistry, the new chairman of the Tata Group, will formally take charge of his office today, company sources said today.

Mistry, who was appointed chairman to succeed Ratan Tata, is the sixth chairman of the Tata empire. The Group was founded as a private trading firm in 1868 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.

Mistry, who was groomed for the assignment by Tata for a year, had made a visit to Bombay House yesterday. AFP

"Today and tomorrow being holidays, Mistry will attend office in his capacity as the group chairman only on Monday," sources at the Bombay House, the Group's headquarters, said today. Ratan Tata retired as chairman of Tata Group after a 50-year run yesterday. He, however, did not attend the office on the last day as he chose to celebrate his Diamond Jubilee birthday celebrations at the Tata Motors manufacturing facilities at Pune.

Mistry, who was groomed for the assignment by Tata for a year, had made a visit to Bombay House yesterday. Ratan Tata, who helmed the group for 21 years after being chosen successor by his uncle, the iconic JRD Tata, in 1991, is credited with transforming the group through bold decisions including large global acquisitions, even as some of its peers struggled to stay relevant post economic liberalisation.

Mistry, who has been with the group since 2006 in various capacities hails from the Shapoorji Pallonji family, which is the largest private shareholder of the group's holding company Tata Sons. Born on July 4, 1968, Cyrus Mistry completed his graduation in Civil Engineering from London's Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine and followed it up with a masters in Management from the London Business School.

He was chosen by a 5-member panel last year to succeed Ratan Tata.During Ratan Tata's tenure, the group's revenues grew manifold, totalling $100.09 billion (around Rs 475,721 crore) in 2011-12 from a turnover of a mere Rs 10,000 crore in 1991.

Tata led the group into some notable acquisitions, starting from Tetley by Tata Tea for $450 million in 2000, to steelmaker Corus by Tata Steel in 2007 for GBP 6.2 billion and the landmark Jaguar LandRover in 2008 for $2.3 billion by Tata Motors.